My 12 Goals for 2018

2018 is going to be an awesome year. It’s already filled with so much opportunity, weddings (my bestie is getting married in less than a month!!), vacations, and growth. Within all this change, I made 12 goals for the 12 months of the year. These 12 goals are divided into different areas of my life, Personal, My marriage, motherhood, and my blog. These 4 things are the most important things in my life, and what better way to honor these things , than by dedicating the next 12 months to improving them. So here are my 12 goals for the next 12 months of my life.

Personal:

1. Read More: Not just blog posts, or articles (because I do that all the time), but actual books. I’m not going to say “read x amount of books by this date”, But I will say, I am going to make an effort to read books this year. So if you have some good books I should read, let me know!
2. Unplug 4 nights a week, from 10pm- 7am: This means, my phone goes on do not disturb from 10p-7am in my room, on the night stand, facedown. So for 4 nights a week I’m able to enjoy my free time with my husband and not constantly checking my phone. Also in those 4 nights when I’m laying in bed bored (and would normally scroll through Pinterest or Instagram) I’ll read!
3. Pray: Build a better and closer relationship with God. I always pray before I go to bed, and with the boys, but its more so out of habit and routine. I’m truly not talking to him, and having a relationship. It’s more like “Hey God, Thanks for coming through for me all the time. You the G.O.A.T” and that’s it. So yeah, building a stronger relationship with him is a big goal of mine.

Marriage:

1. Communicate our emotions better: My husband and I are two VERY different people when it comes to handling our emotions. I like to talk it out, and fix our problems right then and there, and my husband, is more reserved, needs time to think, and will talk about it later. So I drive him insane when I keep pushing an issue, and he drives me insane when he keeps pushing the issue away. So communicating our emotions better is a big one for us.
2. 2 Date nights a month: We already do this, but I want to make sure we stay consistent with this, because I love our dates.
3. Wake up early together once a week: I would like to wake up early with him (notice I said with him, because he already wakes up early…I don’t. I wake up when my kids wake up. So if they’re still sleeping…I’m still sleeping.). But waking up with him once a week, read a devotional, enjoy our coffee while its still hot and just cuddling on the couch. Who says husband and wife time is only for night time?!

Motherhood:

1. Dedicating TWO FULL hours UNPLUGGED and playing with the kids daily: Sounds so simple, but think about when you’re playing with your kids and you quickly check your phone because Your insta-bestie just sent you a message. Yeah, I want to NOT do that. I’m going to put my phone on “Do not disturb” add my husband to the favorites list so he can call me in case of an emergency, and just dedicate my entire presence to my kids.
2. Taking them on individual dates once a week: One on One time is so important for children, so I want to make sure my husband and I commit to this. So for example: Week One, I’ll take RJ on a date for ice cream on Tuesday, and on Thursday my husband will take Elias on a date for ice cream. Week Two, I’ll take Elias on a date to the park on Tuesday, and on Thursday Renaldo will take RJ to the park. So rotating dates between the 2 older kids and the 2 parents. Joel (my 1 year old, he has another year until he gets individual dates, because he gets me all to himself on Tuesday and Thursdays when RJ and Elias both are in school.
3. Do monthly play dates: Schedule a play date with another mom from the school, or a friend, so they can play with another kid outside of school. I’m THE WORST at coordinating and attending play dates. I don’t know why, but I suck at it. But this year I’m going to commit to once a month, whether its at the park, my house, Chick-Fil-A or the mall.

Blog/Social Media:

1. Double my page views by June: I’m very proud of the thousands of page views I receive (it’s so surreal, that people actually read my stuff, like boring ole’ me is actually interesting), but I’d like to double it. I want to learn more, and gain more insight on tips for getting my blog and it’s content seen.
2. Reach AT LEAST 10k Instagram followers by June: Although I only have 4,400 right now, I’m going to dedicate these next 6 months to growing my following. I WANT THE SWIPE UP FEATURE! lol but 2017 I was slacking with trying to gain my following, but this year I’m stepping it up. Not only on instagram, but my FB fan page (I want to reach 1k likes-I’m at 504), My twitter (I want to reach 1k, I’m currently at 632) and my Pinterest (I want 500, I’m at 271).But primarily, I want to grow my Instagram following.
3. Know my worth: Often times brands reach out to me, and they are offering a really nice product in return for a blog post and some social media shares. And I’m flattered that they want to work with me, but I’m scared sometimes to send them back my media kit with fear that I’ll miss out on a collaboration, you can call it FOMO (fear of missing out- its so real y’all). I seen it time after time on all my blogging groups I’m apart of, that they say you need to know your worth. But it wasn’t until my husband said it to me, that it clicked. Quick Story: I reached out to a brand a LONNNNG time ago, they reached back out to me months later asking if I was still interested. Initially I was like yeah, send me the goods. But then, I talked to my husband about the collab, and he was like “How much are you charging?”, I was like “nothing…they’re sending me_______, and it’s REALLY cute”. He then said “Your’re worth more than a $40 ________”, Then I thought….I really should be charging. Making a blog post, and taking pictures is A LOT of work. It’s really not as easy as people think it is. Each blog post requires me brainstorming an idea, writing a rough draft, putting it together, taking pictures, editing those pictures, uploading those pictures, properly linking everything, proof reading, proof reading again, publishing, promoting it on all social media platforms which is a whole other ball game and sending the published post along with any other links to the brand. IT IS A LOT OF WORK! So while that $40 product that is indeed, really cute, it’s not going to pay me for the time I had to put into that post, the time I could’ve had a normal trip to the park (but turned into a product photo shoot) or that time I could’ve been snuggling on the couch with my husband, it’s not going to help me pay for my car loan nor will it even help pay for all my kids’ school tuition. So My goal for this year is to know my worth. Not to be afraid to send my media kit (that I slaved 6 hours over), and to not have FOMO. Opportunities are everywhere!

So these were all my goals for 2018! Were any of your goals similar to mine? Let me know in the comments!